In an information based economy, effectively training employees and leveraging and managing the "knowledge assets" of an organization can be critical to the success of that organization. While some of an organization's knowledge assets are clearly documented (i.e. product specifications, patents, customer lists, policies & procedures, etc.), a great deal of the important knowledge, (i.e., the answers to questions regarding product and marketing strategies, reasons why customers buy, descriptions of best practices, new developments of all types, who to call, where to find certain information, etc.) that makes the organization function and thrive, is only contained in the minds of specific employees. This knowledge is generically referred to herein as "High Impact Knowledge." The availability of the High Impact Knowledge, which is often fluid and in a state of flux, to the appropriate employee at just the right time, can have a significant impact on the performance of the entire organization (i.e., a major sale could be lost because the sales person did not know how to identify a prospect's particular need). A key challenge for management, therefore, is to provide systems and facilities that support the efficient and effective transfer of information and knowledge, especially the High Impact Knowledge which is available generally in the minds of certain employees to the company's employees as a whole. In this way, the overall productivity of the company is increased and the knowledge assets of the organization are disbursed and expanded.
Several major issues make this challenge difficult.
For example, knowledge transfer is inherently chaotic. It can originate and be required from anywhere, by anybody, at anytime, and in any form. Coordinating the transfer of knowledge from one employee to another thus requires some process for causing the proper employees to interact at the proper time.
There is a continuing explosion in the volume of information available as well as in the volume of information sources. While availability of information can initially be regarded as a good opportunity, the opportunity is lost if the volume of information expands beyond that which the organization's employees can realistically wade through. Thus, as information sources increase, the likelihood of any one source being used decreases.
The velocity of change also effects both the currency and validity of the knowledge. To be effective, somehow the information source must anticipate changes in its information content, identify how the information has changed, identify who (or what) has the best new information to make the change; and identify how the change effects other information in other sources. This task alone is generally prohibitive, causing information in a source to "fall behind" and become no longer useful.
Finally, the importance of a specific piece of knowledge depends on a situation. Preconceived determinations about which information content will receive the most attention in preparation, updating, etc., involves a value judgment that may be appropriate in one situation but be wrong in another.
In dealing with this challenge, organizations have implemented comprehensive employee training programs that educate employees about important areas of the organization's business and purpose. Organization's also have attempted to improve communication between employees by installing technology-based communication vehicles such as phone-mail, e-mail, and video-conferencing. Many have also implemented "Computer Based Content Systems" which provide employees with:
Tools for on-line research, PA1 Computer Based Training, and PA1 Expert assistance in performing complex tasks. PA1 Expert, and PA1 Self-Directed PA1 They typically involve a highly specialized knowledge or information base. PA1 They are designed for a specific user profile (i.e., a customer support person, doctors, technicians, etc.). PA1 They are procedural in nature and have an established objective for each session. PA1 They are best suited for precise, binary information (i.e., Right or Wrong). PA1 They produce a consistent usage pattern. PA1 They require considerable user interaction. PA1 They may employ "Rules Based Inferencing Software". PA1 Knowledge flow is in one direction . . . from the system to the user. PA1 Policies & Procedures Manuals PA1 Sales and Marketing Literature PA1 Competitive Analysis PA1 Sales Manuals PA1 Price Lists PA1 Product Presentations PA1 They apply to a wide user audience PA1 Their usage pattern is random PA1 They allow for unrestricted browsing by the user PA1 They support a wide range of content (topics, format, precision) PA1 They support huge volumes of information PA1 All information carries the same importance. It is all just data to the navigation system, the user decides the value. PA1 The information flow is typically one way. PA1 High Impact Knowledge: Information regarding an organization's products and services, its' competitor's products and services, and the customer needs that those products and services satisfy. This knowledge is generally used by employees of that organization to promote the sale of its' products and services to customers. PA1 Best Answer: A concise (preferably one sentence) response to a particular aspect of High Impact Knowledge which has undergone feedback and review by company employees such that the response is or approaches an ideal response from the collective knowledge of the employees. PA1 High Impact Knowledge Object: A logical unit of data in a database which includes one Best Answer plus additional data which may include links to other High Impact Objects in the database as well as links and Pointers to other information not in the database which may or may not be in digital or electronic format. PA1 Pointers: Pointers describe the location of information which may or may not be stored electronically. These locations include the following: PA1 Links: Links are electronic connections to:
Current implementations of computer based content systems can be classified into one of two categories.
Expert content systems are used both to train employees in a specialized skill (e.g., computer based training), and to assist employees in performing complex tasks. An expert content-based system typically has a pre established system objective and is characterized by the "expertise" or control over the training exercise residing in the system, i.e., the exercise is heavily "system directed." In these systems, a user typically begins the exercise by selecting a specific topic, answering a posed question, the answer to which leads to another question, which leads to another question, etc. taking the user deeper and deeper into the Topic.
A classic example of an expert system is in the context of assisting physician diagnoses. A physician, for example, faced with a set of symptoms unfamiliar to the physician poses the problem to the expert system for assistance. The expert system may direct the exercise by first asking for the doctor to characterize the ailment by asking "is the patient experiencing pain?" The doctor answers "yes." The expert system poses the next question, such as "where?", and offers a set of answers. The expert system then continues with the questions and answers until reaching some conclusion which is displayed to the physician.
The expert system, because of the goal it is seeking, and the fact that its questions are directed by answers given, is framed in a hierarchial format of questions and answers ##STR1##
The system starts with Question 0 and expects to receive either Answers 1, 2, or 3. Depending on the answer given, the system poses Question 1, 2, or 3, and so on until a conclusion is reached. A user would not go from Q8 for example to A1 because the expert system's objective is to keep directing the user to an end result within the same logic path or hierarchy.
Another example of an expert system is in the context of helping sales people configure complex products and generate proposals for prospects. An example of this system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,490.
Expert Systems are characterized by the following:
The Expert Systems have limitations. They provide little, if any, ad hoc navigation capability for the user. That is, the expert system, by its nature directs the flow of the information and makes it difficult, if not impossible for the user to deviate to new sources of information or a different path of questioning without ending the session and going back to the beginning of the system. They also require specialists to create, and can be costly to maintain. As such, they are best applied to knowledge that remains relatively stagnant. Further, they support a limited set of users and those users must be committed to using the system because of the length of user sessions.
With advancements in "Text Retrieval" and "Hypertext" technology, and the popularity of the INTERNET and World Wide Web, self-directed content systems have begun to be implemented within organizations to provide wide user access to information that was previously stored only on documents and other forms of un-digitized mediums. These systems may be called IntraNets or Marketing Encyclopedia Systems, and they provide unrestricted browsing of document based information such as:
Self-directed content systems are characterized by the following:
Self-directed content systems also have limitations. Their navigation capabilities are restricted, and the information is presented in large blocks like a document or video clip. That is, the user plots and plans (or stumbles around) a path through these large blocks of information. Because of the vast volume of information, users find it difficult to find specific information and easily get lost. When they can find the information they need, the information can be inconsistent between different sources on the system. While it is easy to put documents into such a system, the appropriate design architecture and maintenance procedures are complicated. These systems are also difficult to customize for a particular type of user.
While both Expert and Self-Directed approaches are effective in supporting certain functions, neither is truly effective in either the creation or consolidation and dissemination of High Impact Knowledge, or it's timely transfer among a wide employee audience. Even though High Impact Knowledge can be organized and categorized, it's wide scope, random usage pattern, and volatile nature make it ill suited for the Expert System approach. On the other hand, while High Impact Knowledge may be contained in some of the documents in a Self Directed System, like a Marketing Encyclopedia System or IntraNet, it is often difficult for users to locate because it is not easily identified as High Impact Knowledge, and is often buried among all the other information.